The China Connection

History, Law & Government Department Chair Pamela Katz, J.D., an associate professor of legal studies and political science, spent her sabbatical spring semester 2007 in China. She went as part of Sages partnership with the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade (SIFT), a public university dedicated to international business, to teach law to SIFT students and build relationships with colleagues.

Katz taught a course on American contract law to about 50 graduate students. They enjoyed comparing American contract law to Chinese contract law. As a result, I learned a great deal about Chinese law, and consequently, Chinese society, Katz said.

She also taught two seminars on American constitutional issues, discussing issues such as abortion, the right to die, cloning, and gay rights with both undergraduate and graduate students. There is no way to generalize about Chinese students views on these subjects. Their perspectives are as varied as those of students at Russell Sage or anywhere in the U.S., Katz said. The women in my classes were without question the leaders the most active, helpful, engaged similar to the leadership qualities of Russell Sage students.

And yet it was undeniably a different world. At SIFT, which is under the administration of the Shanghai Municipal Government in the Peoples Republic of China, each graduating class elects a class monitor a liaison between the students and faculty who must be a member of the Communist party.

Most students had no problem speaking out, though some saved their comments for the breaks or after class when groups gathered to help each other translate their ideas from Chinese to English.

The SIFT campus in the university town of Songjiang was constructed on a grand scale entirely out of marble and concrete, with striking architectural features. The classrooms are fully equipped with computers and projectors and yet there is no heat or air conditioning in the buildings. The conditions did nothing to distract the students. They are extremely focused and hard-working, Katz said.

It wasnt all work for Katz while in China. She explored and experienced a great deal in her six months there with her family, who had accompanied her: husband Richard Steinbach and their two children, Bobby, 17, and Rae, 13.

They took a four-day cruise up the Yangtze River to see the Three Gorges region; travelled to Beijing for a long weekend, including a visit to the Great Wall and a quaint canal village called Zhu Jia Jiao; took an outdoorsy excursion to Yangshuo where they went bike riding, rock climbing, and kayaking on the Li River and saw rice paddies, water buffalo, and traditional brides posing by the water.

They also travelled to Japan during the Golden Week holiday and explored the food, culture, and nightlife of Tokyo and Kyoto, then ventured to the lofty heights of Tibet.

The names and dates and events will disappear in the waves of time, but my sense of China as a place of marvelous contradictions gentle and harsh; innocent and venal; dynamic and traditional will remain along with the bonds our family built together experiencing this great adventure, Katz said.

The experience re-energized and enriched me in ways beyond description, Katz said. I teach all my courses U.S. Government, Public Policy, and others in a comparative fashion. My SIFT experience has enhanced my teaching by incorporating the Chinese perspective, and increased the students understanding of current events and issues.

Her visit also laid the groundwork for a student exchange between Sage and SIFT. This spring, student Jennifer Richter headed to Shanghai to study at SIFT and add invaluable global experience to her International Studies major. In addition, there are plans in development for 10 young women from SIFT to come to Russell Sage for the fall 2008 semester. They would be accompanied by a Chinese teacher who would teach a course or two for Sage. The students would take law and political science courses and travel to New York and Washington during their stay.